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Lead(II) acetate [Pb(OAc)2] is an inorganic salt with several uses, notably as an ingredient in dyes and mordants. Even though it is highly toxic (see the hazard information table), in the past it has been used as a sweetener and preservative in wines and other foods. It is commercially available as the anhydrous salt or the trihydrate1.
One of the earliest literature mentions of Pb(OAc)2 was in the 21st article in an (e.g., KI3) by George Stillingfleet Johnson at King鈥檚 College London. Several articles from the 1890s cite Pb(OAc)2 in tests for whether it precipitates the anions of sodium or potassium salts under discussion. One of the salts was derived from what Pietro Biginelli at the University of Florence called , now more properly named 2-[2-(hydroxymethyl)phenoxy]acetic acid2.
Pb(OAc)2 can be made by boiling metallic lead in acetic acid in the presence of an oxidant; dissolving lead(II) oxide in acetic acid; or treating copper(II) acetate with the metal. The anhydrous salt and the trihydrate both have monoclinic crystal structures.
1. CAS Reg. No. 6080-56-4.
2. CAS Reg. No. 97388-49-3.
Lead(II) acetate hazard information*
| Hazard class** | GHS code and hazard statement | |
|---|---|---|
| Serious eye damage/irritation, category 1 | H318鈥擟auses serious eye damage |  |
| Germ cell mutagenicity, category 2 | H341鈥擲uspected of causing genetic defects |  |
| Carcinogenicity, category 2 | H351鈥擲uspected of causing cancer | |
| Reproductive toxicity, category 1A | H360鈥擬ay damage fertility or the unborn child | |
| Effects on or via lactation (additional category) | H362鈥擬ay cause harm to breast-fed children | |
| Specific target organ toxicity, single exposure, blood and nervous systems and kidneys, category 1 | H370鈥擟auses damage to blood and nervous systems and kidneys | |
| Specific target organ toxicity, repeated exposure, blood, immune, and central nervous systems and kidneys, category 1 | H372鈥擟auses damage to blood, immune, and central nervous systems and kidneys through prolonged or repeated exposure | |
| Short-term (acute) aquatic hazard, category 1 | H400鈥擵ery toxic to aquatic life |  |
| Long-term (chronic) aquatic hazard, category 1 | H410鈥擵ery toxic to aquatic life with long-lasting effects | |
*Compilation of multiple safety data sheets聽, some for the trihydrate.
**Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals.聽
Molecules from the journals
Acalabrutinib1 is a medication for treating non-Hodgkin lymphomas, such as mantle-cell lymphoma, and some leukemias. It was approved for use by the US Federal Drug Administration in 2017 and by the European Medicines Agency in 2020. Last December, Michael Golden at AstraZeneca (Macclesfield, UK) and collaborators there and in the United States described the development of an for acalabrutinib.
D-Arabitol2, also called D-arabitinol, is a five-carbon sugar alcohol that has been known since at least 1899, when Otto Ruff at the University of Berlin made it by . Found in nature in mushrooms and other fungi, it has had few applications over the years. But last December, Xianghui Qi and co-workers at Jiangsu University (Zhenjiang, China) reported that D-arabitol, in conjunction with gut bacteria, may help to .
1. CAS Reg. No. 1420477-60-6.
2. CAS Reg. No. 488-82-4.
3. CAS Reg. No. 10323-20-3.
4. CAS Reg. No. 1114-34-7.
Molecules from the Journals
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Lead(II) acetate fast facts
| CAS Reg. No. | 301-04-2 |
| SciFinder nomenclature | Acetic acid, lead(2+) salt (2:1) |
| Empirical formula | C4H6O4Pb |
| Molar mass | 325.29 g/mol |
| Appearance | White crystals, granules, or powder |
| Melting point | 280 掳C |
| Water solubility | 443 g/L (20 掳C) |
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